[kent m]

Excuse the poor syntax...

One thing I miss about Linux is the ability to 'send to back' a window with a single click. Is there currently a way to set this up or activate a 'hidden' feature in osX?

thx

[Dork.]

Out of the box, the closest you can get is ⌘H, which will "hide" the frontmost application. Not quite the same, but close. There's also ⌘` (command + the key to the left of the "1" key), which cycles through open windows in the current application.

Also, if you have a version of OS X with Expose, then F9 will "Zoom Out" all the active windows and pick the one you want, and F10 will "zoom out" all the windows in the active application and pick the one you want. Again, not quite what you want, but close enough. Maybe there's some shareware that I'm not aware of that does this....

Remember that Macs have always handled windows on an application-by-application basis, as opposed to Unix which handles them on a window-by-window basis. I use 'send to back' and 'bring to front' all the time on my Sun box at work -- the Sun keyboard even has two special keys dedicated to the task -- but I only find it useful because I use focus-follows-mouse, so that I can send a shell back and even if just a corner of it is poking out, I can move the mouse there and type in the shell without bringing it to the front. Since you can't really do that on a Mac, I think sending windows back and forth is less useful. At least the command key and Expose hints let you choose a window in an easier manner....

[kent m]

Yeah, those are all good points, they're some of the base features of the osx window nav system, but none of those do exactly what I'd like. The cycle app windows [CMD `] is the closest I guess, but that's aimed toward bringing windows to attention, not puting them away. F9 is not optimal because I can never guess where the windows will go and so I have to look around to find the one I want... 'Bring to front' is handled quite well by simply clicking on the window. :-) I'd just like to have a simple way to simply clear a window out of my view but keep it in the window desktop area. The 'Send to Back' with a single click is a good way to do it. Helps me to think less...

It's interesting what you get used to and then miss from system to system... I can't count the number of times I've been told that the Focus Follows Mouse feature is a useless one from people who've never used it, for example, and I now consider that to be one of the main features missing from the osx Finder. I REALLY hope to see it available as an option for the Finder for the next osx release. Not holding my breath on this one though, but I at the least do hope to see the Finder taken from carbon into cocoa because then even if the Apple folk won't allow the FFM feature it'll be available via Virtual Desktops from Codetek. Currently, apparently because the Finder is written in carbon and doesn't allow certain behaviors the FFM feature of VD brings the focused windows to #1 pos if implemented for the finder, which is bad...

thx

[cla]

Originally Posted by kent m

Yeah, those are all good points, they're some of the base features of the osx window nav system, but none of those do exactly what I'd like. The cycle app windows [CMD `] is the closest I guess, but that's aimed toward bringing windows to attention, not puting them away. F9 is not optimal because I can never guess where the windows will go and so I have to look around to find the one I want... 'Bring to front' is handled quite well by simply clicking on the window. :-) I'd just like to have a simple way to simply clear a window out of my view but keep it in the window desktop area. The 'Send to Back' with a single click is a good way to do it. Helps me to think less...

Good post. I too find this one of the biggest gripes of interaction.
Here's a good blog discussion (Brent Simmons – Close, minimize, or hide?)

It's interesting what you get used to and then miss from system to system... I can't count the number of times I've been told that the Focus Follows Mouse feature is a useless one from people who've never used it, for example, and I now consider that to be one of the main features missing from the osx Finder.

I tried 'focus-follows-mouse' once some ten years ago on the university's Solaris system. The appalling implementation apart (windows 'went-to-front' as the user hovered over them), I'm sure I would fall in love with the feature if it were implemented 'correctly'.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by kent m

Yeah, those are all good points, they're some of the base features of the osx window nav system, but none of those do exactly what I'd like. The cycle app windows [CMD `] is the closest I guess, but that's aimed toward bringing windows to attention, not puting them away. F9 is not optimal because I can never guess where the windows will go and so I have to look around to find the one I want... 'Bring to front' is handled quite well by simply clicking on the window. :-) I'd just like to have a simple way to simply clear a window out of my view but keep it in the window desktop area. The 'Send to Back' with a single click is a good way to do it. Helps me to think less...

I have to admit, I don't see a use for getting rid of a window without intending to focus on another. In what situations is this used?

[P]

One of the general rules of Macintosh shortcuts is that shift reverses the default behaviour, if that makes sense. Try pressing shift-Cmd-`to cycle the windows backwards. This puts the current working window in the bottom of the pile - in effect, sending it to the back. Only of the current app though, because that's the only cycling you'll get with Cmd-`. To cycle all windows, you can use Witch. I have set opt-tab to cycle forward and shift-opt-tab to cycle backward - in addition to adding Cmd-opt-tab to cycle between windows in current app and shift-Cmd-opt-tab to cycle backwards inside the app. With these commands, you can truly send a window to the back.

Dork, how did you make the command sign?

[cla]

Originally Posted by Chuckit

I have to admit, I don't see a use for getting rid of a window without intending to focus on another. In what situations is this used?

For instance, I often need to see what's on my desktop, preferably without switching context. Consequently the amount of windows on top of my desktop is quite limited.

The Exposé functions are located on keys which I have to way of hitting without looking at my keyboard, hence useless to me.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by cla

For instance, I often need to see what's on my desktop, preferably without switching context. Consequently the amount of windows on top of my desktop is quite limited.

How would a Send To Back command help with that? The desktop is always behind normal windows no matter where they're ordered.

Originally Posted by cla

The Exposé functions are located on keys which I have to way of hitting without looking at my keyboard, hence useless to me.

Then change them.

[kent m]

Originally Posted by Chuckit

How would a Send To Back command help with that? The desktop is always behind normal windows no matter where they're ordered.

Hmmm... I guess I it would be best described by a scenario where I have a bunch of windows open in a couple of apps - like I do any time I'm working - and have a basic idea of what the windows are, but because of limited screen space - I can't afford the gigantic monitors (but suspect that if I did it would quickly fill up too) and so my screen invariably gets cluttered with a bunch of windows, each with a slightly different purpose whether it be a nav location on my HD or what-have-you, that overlap each other. So, I finish working a task in one window and want to jump to another window ( it's around here somewhere... ) to etc etc. The best way I find to do this is to simply single-click on the window that's in my face and 'Send It To Back', presenting the next window. Usually within a couple of quick clicks I find the window I want and carry on, without having to scan a pulldown menu or search a bunch of 'mini-windows' to find it. I find it's just a quick, simple and efficient way of navigating open windows.

The [CMD SHIFT `] is probably the closest thing I've found (thanks P for the tip - for some reason I hadn't figured that one out, though I did know about the [CMD `]) (...maybe because the SHIFT key is no longer a General rule as it now serves as a modifier to slow down the Minimize etc actions...), but that still only functions on an app by app basis so I still would prefer a mouse click action.

[RadarBob2]

9 is not optimal because I can never guess where the windows will go and so I have to look around to find the one I want...

Once you press F9 you can press TAB and cycle through all the windows, each window is shown full size in turn. Just clik on the desired window to give it focus.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by RadarBob2

Once you press F9 you can press TAB and cycle through all the windows, each window is shown full size in turn. Just clik on the desired window to give it focus.

Tab cycles through apps, not windows.

[macmike42]

Originally Posted by Chuckit

Tab cycles through apps, not windows.

Correct, tilde ("`") cycles through windows. Using shift with either tab or tilde will cycle backwards.

[JKT]

FWIW, control-F4 or control-shift-F4 will cycle through all visible windows in all visible apps (assuming you have Full Keyboard Access turned on and are using the default key assignments).

Note: this is not anything to do with Exposé, just to avoid any confusion with the last few posts.